Monday, February 28, 2011

And then fire rained from the sky!

Quite the morning! Thank God for Carbon Monoxide detectors! This morning I came downstairs, like every morning, and turned on the baby monitor and the TV and went back into the kitchen to prepare my breakfast. Just as I was walking back into the kitchen we had a power surge. A moment later I hear a shrill alarm coming from upstairs. I figured it was the smoke detector resetting itself so I ran up there but it wasn’t that. Then I realized it was the carbon monoxide detector. I figured it just had to do with the power surge and since it is right outside the bedroom doors I was more concerned about the kids waking up. I unplugged it and tried plugging it back in but it kept going off. I brought it to another part of the hallway and plugged it in there and it still was going off. That got me a little worried! So I ran in to Bud’s room to bring him downstairs. When I went through the dining room to go back up and get Babe I noticed that the carbon monoxide detector there was showing high levels (the upstairs one doesn’t show the levels, the alarm just sounds). The levels got me really worried so I ran and got Babe and brought her down and started getting Bud ready to get in the car so I could get them out of the house. The whole time I kept my eye on the levels and they kept jumping up and down. Just when I thought everything was going to be ok they would spike incredibly high again! I got Bud in his jacket and boots and tried to open the garage but the power still wasn’t fully restored so it wouldn’t open. I went over and pulled the cord so I could manually open the door but the door would only open a few inches and then get caught on something. I called my husband to see if he could come get me but he was in the plow truck across town so I called his parents so at least I could get the kids out of the house. Bud was already bundled so I grabbed a blanket (because Babe’s jacket was currently soaking wet in the washer) and wrapped her up and we stood outside (in the pouring rain - thank God for a covered porch!) waiting for them to come. Next thing we know here comes an enormous plow truck coming like the Calvary down our tiny road! Lights flashing, brakes hissing! My husband jumping down from his perch looking all valiant! It was all very dramatic! My in-laws showed up at almost the same time so I was able to get the kids in the warm car. By the end of it my husband was able to get my garage open so I grabbed a few things and drove to my in-laws to finish getting ready.

It was all very scary. I didn’t really know what to do, or where to go. I didn’t want to overreact but I also didn’t want to put my kids in danger. We aren’t sure what made the levels spike like that but we are going to look into it. For now I’m just glad we were able to get out and thank God for the carbon monoxide detectors! If you don’t have them in your house I hope this story will convince you that they are worth it!!!!